(2 Kings 23:31–35)
1
And the people of the land take Jehoahaz son of Josiah and cause him to reign instead of his father in Jerusalem.
2
Jehoahaz [is] a son of twenty-three years in his reigning, and he has reigned three months in Jerusalem,
3
and the king of Egypt turns him aside in Jerusalem, and fines the land one hundred talents of silver, and a talent of gold;
4
and the king of Egypt causes his brother Eliakim to reign over Judah and Jerusalem, and turns his name to Jehoiakim; and Necho has taken his brother Jehoahaz and brings him to Egypt.
Jehoiakim Reigns in Judah
(2 Kings 23:36–37)
5
Jehoiakim [is] a son of twenty-five years in his reigning, and he has reigned eleven years in Jerusalem, and he does evil in the eyes of his God YHWH;
6
Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has come up against him, and binds him in bronze chains to take him away to Babylon.
7
And Nebuchadnezzar has brought from the vessels of the house of YHWH to Babylon, and puts them in his temple in Babylon.
8
And the rest of the matters of Jehoiakim, and his abominations that he has done, and that which is found against him, behold, they are written on the scroll of the kings of Israel and Judah, and his son Jehoiachin reigns in his stead.
Jehoiachin Reigns in Judah
(2 Kings 24:6–9)
9
Jehoiachin [is] a son of eight years in his reigning, and he has reigned three months and ten days in Jerusalem, and he does evil in the eyes of YHWH;
10
and at the turn of the year King Nebuchadnezzar has sent and brings him to Babylon with the desirable vessels of the house of YHWH, and causes his brother Zedekiah to reign over Judah and Jerusalem.
Zedekiah Reigns in Judah
(2 Kings 24:18–20; Jeremiah 52:1–3)
11
Zedekiah [is] a son of twenty-one years in his reigning, and he has reigned eleven years in Jerusalem;
12
and he does evil in the eyes of his God YHWH, he has not been humbled before Jeremiah the prophet [speaking] from the mouth of YHWH;
13
and he has also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar who had caused him to swear by God, and he hardens his neck and strengthens his heart against turning back to YHWH, God of Israel.
14
Also, all the heads of the priests and the people have multiplied to commit a trespass according to all the abominations of the nations, and they defile the house of YHWH that He has sanctified in Jerusalem.
The Fall of Jerusalem
(2 Kings 25:1–7)
15
And YHWH, God of their fathers, sends to them by the hand of His messengers—rising early and sending—for He has had pity on His people and on His habitation,
16
but they are mocking at the messengers of God, and despising His words, and acting deceitfully with His prophets, until the going up of the fury of YHWH against His people—until there is no healing.
17
And He causes the king of the Chaldeans to go up against them, and he slays their chosen ones by the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and has had no pity on young man and virgin, old man and very aged—He has given the whole into his hand.
18
And all the vessels of the house of God, the great and the small, and the treasures of the house of YHWH, and the treasures of the king and of his princes—he has brought the whole to Babylon.
19
And they burn the house of God, and break down the wall of Jerusalem, and they have burned all its palaces with fire, and all its desirable vessels—to destruction.
20
And he removes those left of the sword to Babylon, and they are to him and to his sons for servants, until the reigning of the kingdom of Persia,
21
to fulfill the word of YHWH in the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land has enjoyed its Sabbaths; all the days of the desolation it kept Sabbath—to the fullness of seventy years.
The Proclamation of Cyrus
(Ezra 1:1–4; Isaiah 45:1–25)
22
And in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, at the completion of the word of YHWH in the mouth of Jeremiah, YHWH has awoken the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, and he causes an intimation to pass over into all his kingdom, and also in writing, saying,
23
“Thus said Cyrus king of Persia: YHWH, God of the heavens, has given all kingdoms of the earth to me, and He has laid a charge on me to build a house for Him in Jerusalem which [is] in Judah; who is among you of all His people? His God YHWH [is] with him, and he goes up!”
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